Happy New Year, 2008!

Hey guys, I know its a few days late but Happy New Year everyone! My family and I went on quite a long road trip last week, visiting family and family friends along the way. New Year's eve was pretty tame, watched Ratatouille and Hot Rod.

Along the trip, we spent a night with a family friend who is an Internal Medicine/Hepatology Physician. We went on a tour of his new office, and let me tell you, the feeling I got when I walked in there made me want to reconsider a future in an office-based practice. He runs a totally paperless practice, using EMR software called eClinicalWorks. It was pretty awesome, letting him do basically everything he/the nurse/the receptionist needs to do, and its all amalgamated into one piece of software. I promise I'm not being paid to toot their horn, and all the info I've seen on it is based on the little 10-minute run through that he gave me, but it looks like my kind of office lol. Computers in each exam room (I would go with a single tablet PC, but whatever), a computer for the nurse, one for the receptionist, and involved faxing prescriptions, telephone records, everything.

SO, I was kind of excited for a little bit, and then all of a sudden, our family friend doc starts talking about how the work he puts in isn't really being reciprocated by reimbursements, etc. He was one of the few people to try and convince me to go into ER medicine. Anyway, that's definitely something to think of in the future...we'll see how it goes (gotta pass the Step 1 first!)

As my winter break comes to a close, I'm not looking forward to going back to St. Andrews for a week of revising and then 2 weeks of exams...but I definitely am looking forward to the 2 week break after that - one of the good parts of the St. Andrews calendar :-D

-AMiB

Merry Christmas, 2007!

Merry Christmas everyone!

I hope you all got what you wanted!

-AMiB

It's that time of year...

So, Christmas break is just around the corner (finally)! We third years have our last lecture of the semester (and technically, our last lecture of St. Andrews) tomorrow. We're all quite excited.

Today I spent the afternoon giving tours of the Bute to prospective students who have just been interviewed. I've done this a number of times, but today was more fun than I remembered...can't quite put my finger on why, but oh well.

I'm leaving for home Saturday morning. By Saturday morning, I mean my flight leaves at 6.30am. Which means I have to be there at 4.30am. Which means I have to get a taxi out of St. Andrews at 3.30am. Thank goodness I know a bunch of people who are on the same flight, so instead of paying the £50 myself, its down to £12.50. I'm quite looking forward to going home though, especially since none of my clothes seem to fit me anymore, and I'm excited to get some new ones.

Anyway, I really need to finish some more work before I go home. The plan was to be caught up and have all my notes, etc, done before I left. We'll see how that works, since I have a mandatory Skills Practice from 9-10am tomorrow, and a lecture from 12-1pm. And I haven't even started packing yet. Hopefully things will be fine.

Just felt like I should do a quick update, sorry its such a random dissociated post.

Only 5 more days till Christmas!
-AMiB

Twenty, eh?

20

This is one of the more..."interesting" meme's I've taken, yet the questions/responses are still quite amusing.

How many can you handle?

-AMiB

How fitting...

Which Action Hero Would You Be? v. 2.0 created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as William Wallace The great Scottish warrior William Wallace led his people against their English oppressors in a campaign that won independence for Scotland and immortalized him in the hearts of his countrymen. With his warrior's heart, tactician's mind, and poet's soul, Wallace was a brilliant leader. He just wanted to live a simple life on his farm, but he gave it up to help his country in its time of need. William Wallace 83% James Bond, Agent 007 67% The Amazing Spider-Man 67% Maximus 67% The Terminator 67% Neo, the "One" 54% Batman, the Dark Knight 54% Indiana Jones 54% El Zorro 50% Lara Croft 42% Captain Jack Sparrow 42%

Clinical Medicine Module: Cardiology

So, today was the second clinical attachment for me, the Cardiology attachment (I got to pick this one, and since I quite like Cardiology/Cardiovascular system, I picked it). I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was in Kirckaldy instead of Dunfermline, as the latter is an extra 20 minutes out. On arrival we went up the Education Centre, and then were forwarded on to the Cardiac Care Unit. 6 of us went with each Consultant (and switched halfway through). It was in the same general format of the Surgery Rotation, except more about heart failure and acute MIs. It was pretty interesting, and since I've always tried to be on top of my game on cardiac issues (since we see so many flowing through the ER), I was pretty on my game. At one point (after I answered that the treatment for a axillary vein blood clot s/p pacemaker placement would be a LMWH e.g. enoxaparin), the Consultant joked about "when I could start". It kinda made me feel like all those [unpaid] hours at the hospital really paid off. Bit of a confidence booster, if you will. The first consultant mainly dealt with cardiac causes of dsypnea as well as heart failure. He then showed us echocardiograms from the patients we had seen - I had never actually been taught what to look for, but he did a very good job at giving us a brief intro.
The second consultant took us to see a patient who had had an acute MI, was stented (I believe), and due to a bradyarrhythmia had a temporary pacer placed. Then after a bit of ECG review, we were let go.

Overall, I enjoyed it a lot more than the Surgery one, maybe because I've always leant toward Cardiology as a possible career choice...who knows?

In other news (one of which is semi-related to today):
Over the past few days i've seemed to develop a URTI. Most probably viral, and I'm trying to get through it. Got myself some Halls cough drops and some dextromethorphan/pseudoephedrine cough syrup, and it seems to be working pretty well. Also, today I decided that since I always get so nauseous on the bus to our attachments, that I would try one of the hyoscine(/scopolamine) tablets that I have. Now, I've never needed to take this kind of thing before - usually I just deal with the nausea - but I figure hey, why not? The whole bus ride went fine - we got to the hospital, and I figured everything was gonna be good.
Then I stepped off the bus. Immediately I could tell something was wrong. I didn't seem to be able to walk straight, my eyes were...funny. They weren't blurred, everything was just so...different. Not really sure how to explain it (well actually I do, we'll get to that later). However, I continued on and we all headed to the Education centre, Cardio floor, etc. The whole first hour or so, not only was I coughing up a storm, but I was having trouble speaking (bit of dry mouth?) and just coordinating in general. Things got better, over time though. So, hyoscine is an anticholergic - loss of pupillary constriction due to imbalance between para&sympathetic systems lead to the weird vision (must've had huge pupils - letting in a lot of light). Dry mouth is an anticholinergic side effect as well. I was trying to remember the rhymes for anticholinergic overdose, but all that came to mind was "Mad as a Hatter", and I sure as hell wasn't seeing things or grasping in the air - so I figured I'd be ok. It slowly drifted away, but I still feel kinda funny...hopfully it'll wear off by tomorrow.

And, in OTHER other news, I got a 17 (on the 1-20 scale that our Uni uses) on my midsemester assessment! (that's the lowest mark of a 1st class). Seeing as how I've never been able to get higher than a 15, I was quite happy. Except I know it was only because I did well on 2 questions that most others were fairly unprepared for...just means I'll hope to keep it up in the end of semester exam!!

-AMiB
p.s. it still freaks me out every time my sitemeter shows someone from within the University viewing my page...lol

Happy Raisin Sunday, 2007!

Happy Raisin Sunday!

Raisin Sunday is a tradition here at St. Andrews that has evolved over the years...
Rather than type out the traditions, etc, I am stealing the article from The Sinner:

Raisin Weekend is centered around the unique St Andrews tradition of the "academic family".

Each first year (or at least those who choose to take part - it is not compulsory) is adopted by an academic mother and academic father - who are usually, but not always, in their third or fourth year. In one form or another, Raisin Weekend has been around since the very earliest days of the university. It was, and still is, a "rite of passage" for new students.

On Raisin Sunday, first years spend the day with their academic parents. First of all, they attend a tea party with their mother at which, traditionally, not much tea but a great deal of alcohol is consumed. Later, the children are collected by their fathers and the evening is spent in the drinking of yet more alcohol.

In return for their parents' kindnesses, the first year is expected to give them each a bottle of wine. This is deemed the modern equivalent of a pound of raisins (actually, the modern equivalent of a pound of raisins IS a pound of raisins) which was the usual gift way back in the mists of time when students had a bland diet (has this changed much?)

On the following day (handily called Raisin Monday) and after being woken up, sobered up, cleaned up, and dressed up in outlandish clothes, freshers are presented with their Raisin Receipts. These are written in Latin and is a way of acknowledging the gift of raisins. They always used to be on parchment. Nowadays, almost certainly, the receipt will be something large, embarrassing and cumbersome which has to be carried around.

The gift-giving does not end here. Academic mothers give each of their children "Raisin Strings" with a small gift attached. The gift or "favour" is supposed to reflect the personality of the child. The number of Raisin Strings depends on the status of the mother. It is one string per year of matriculation - blue for first year, crimson for second, gold for third and black for fourth. These strings, with gift still attached, will eventually be tied to the child's gown hooks.

After all this largesse, children are paraded through the town until they arrive at Sallies Quad. En route, third years, fourth years and graduates of the university (if they are wearing their gowns) can stop any fresher and examine their Raisin Receipt. If they find a mistake in it then they can demand that the Gaudeamus be sung as punishment. Once at Sallies Quad, between 11 and 12 o'clock, a foam fight nearly always breaks out - it's almost traditional. The striking of 12 o'clock means the end of the fun for another year, and sees students slowly drifting off. Parents perhaps to have photos developed. Freshers, almost certainly, to sleep.

So, there you have it. Last year I had 20 children, 10 sons, and 10 daughters (no I did not pair them up, although Academic Incest is widespread within the University) - this is allowed since Medics are technically one year ahead - we do a 4-year degree in 3 years, so in first year we are taking 2nd year class, in second year we're in 2rd year, etc...

It was a lot of fun, but this year as Big Grandpappy AMiB, I will be party-hopping, trying to enjoy myself while making sure no one dies from alcohol poisoning.

-AMiB